0:00:02 > 0:00:04# Tricky tricky tricky
0:00:04 > 0:00:06# In New York the people talk and try to make us rhyme. #
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Welcome to one of the biggest nights of my year.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Run DMC are going down a storm at the Isle of Wight Festival,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15and I've got a slight problem.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18One of the screens isn't working.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21# It's tricky to rock a rhyme,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23# To rock a rhyme that's right on time
0:00:23 > 0:00:24# It's tricky. #
0:00:24 > 0:00:26APPLAUSE
0:00:26 > 0:00:31This programme contains strong language
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Hello. One, two.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35'Normally I stay out of the spotlight.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41'But these are paying customers, and they deserve an explanation.'
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Listen, I'm really sorry about the screen. I apologise.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53'It will be sorted by tomorrow but let's face it,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57'what makes live music so special is the fact that it's unpredictable.'
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I'm John Giddings, a promoter with over 40 years in the game,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06and believe me, up there in front of thousands, anything can happen.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14I had to walk out there, stinking of another man's pee.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21I looked over at Damon as a pair of knickers clocked him in the eye.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24By the time I got to the chorus, a bra had hit me in the face.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26At that point, everything changed.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32I was playing and I looked over, and this figure in a red dress
0:01:32 > 0:01:35and a fox's head came out.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43And we all looked at each other, and said, what the...?
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Today I work with some of the biggest acts on the planet.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50In my career, I've seen live music transform itself.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52It has to be how many dates
0:01:52 > 0:01:55we think you can do without killing you.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58From a bunch of amateurs making it up as they went along...
0:01:58 > 0:02:00I had to go and see Leonard Cohen in the middle of the night
0:02:00 > 0:02:02and said, "Look, we don't have
0:02:02 > 0:02:05"the balance of your fee. £100,000, today".
0:02:05 > 0:02:09..into a billion-pound global industry.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13The production was absolutely huge.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15It was petrifying.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19At the heart of it is a unique experience that's remained
0:02:19 > 0:02:21the same all these years.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24At the sound check they thought the concert was starting,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26and they just came over the walls.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29They trashed all the fancy seats in the front.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32We were playing to the people on the street and they responded.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35So that was one of the most emotional shows we ever played.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41This series reveals how the music business really works -
0:02:41 > 0:02:44from finding new talent to reviving old acts.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49And I'm going to be telling the inside story of live music, how it's
0:02:49 > 0:02:54made fortunes, built reputations, and is now more important than ever.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09It doesn't get much bigger than this in live music.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13I'll meet you on the stage.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17U2 are the most successful live act on the planet
0:03:17 > 0:03:20and, as their tour promoter, I'm involved in everything
0:03:20 > 0:03:23from the choice of venue to the pricing of tickets.
0:03:26 > 0:03:27Hello, John.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29You get more and more good-looking every year.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32I first met U2
0:03:32 > 0:03:34when they were just an up-and-coming postpunk band.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37- That was, like, 20 years ago. - Yeah, exactly.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39We were young then. We had brown hair.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47# I was on the outside when you said, you said you needed me
0:03:47 > 0:03:53# I was looking at myself I was blind, I could not see. #
0:03:55 > 0:03:57A long way from the Hope and Anchor, isn't it?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00A hell of a long way from the Hope and Anchor.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03I remember when we did the Hope and Anchor, Edge had his arm in a sling.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08- Tough for a guitarist. - It's very tough for a guitar player.
0:04:08 > 0:04:15I'd been driving us that morning to the car ferry in Ireland, in Dublin.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19And I was going a bit fast, and I went into a corner.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I was only in a Citroen GS, so I went into a corner probably
0:04:22 > 0:04:24at about 45 miles an hour,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28and poor Edge went through the windscreen, so we started a tour
0:04:28 > 0:04:31in the Hope and Anchor with him with his hand in an ice bucket.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35You were playing the Hope and Anchor, The Police were playing
0:04:35 > 0:04:39the Red Cow in Hammersmith, and The Stranglers were at the Nashville.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40That was a great night out
0:04:40 > 0:04:43- if you could make it to each one of them.- Yeah, exactly.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48# Desert rose Dreamed I saw a desert rose
0:04:48 > 0:04:53# Dress torn in ribbons and in bows
0:04:53 > 0:04:57# Like a siren she calls to me. #
0:04:57 > 0:05:02OK, here's a test, Adam. How far back in time can you remember?
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- Which tour did I do first? - That is a test...
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Shall give you a clue?
0:05:07 > 0:05:11- Yeah, give us a clue.- It started in Vegas.- OK, PopMart.- Correct.- OK.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25# Give me one more chance and you'll be satisfied. #
0:05:25 > 0:05:29That was the first tour I did with you, because we were doing
0:05:29 > 0:05:32The Stones in Rotterdam and what's his name, the accountant came out
0:05:32 > 0:05:37and met us to talk about it. About doing the next world tour for you.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Did I have a meeting with an accountant?
0:05:39 > 0:05:44- You had an accountant, I don't think he's your accountant any more.- OK.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52# You're the real thing You're the real thing. #
0:05:52 > 0:05:54This man protects our back.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58He makes sure that when we turn up in a place, and when our crew
0:05:58 > 0:06:02turn up in a place, that everything they need to put on a show is there.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04So they don't have to worry about it.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07We do everything behind so they can go out and give their best
0:06:07 > 0:06:11to the audience, not have to worry about things not working properly.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13People don't realise what good promoters do.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16But they actually protect the audience,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19and they protect the band, and make sure that nobody gets
0:06:19 > 0:06:22ripped off, and that everybody gets the experience that they expect.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29On a stadium tour like this, it all takes a small army
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and it has to run with military precision.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37On, like, a Monday, they come in and they lay this floor,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39so that we can drive cranes, and then Tuesday
0:06:39 > 0:06:42and Wednesday the steel system comes in and they build all
0:06:42 > 0:06:46the structure that hangs the PA, the sound and lighting.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48And then we come in Thursday,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51and we attach the sound, lighting and video to it.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54But as we're here in Twickenham,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57on the Sunday, there's a steel system being built in Berlin
0:06:57 > 0:06:59- for us to play on Wednesday.- Yes.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Yes, there's about 50,000 people who have no idea what goes into a gig.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07You know, and when you tell them it takes you two days to put
0:07:07 > 0:07:09the steel in and eight hours to put your production in,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and you unload 33 trucks,
0:07:12 > 0:07:13then they think you're bonkers.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21# I want to run I want to hide. #
0:07:21 > 0:07:26U2 are now the undisputed masters of this kind of epic-scale show,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30but filling a vast space like this wasn't always easy for them.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34When we started to play the bigger places, I think
0:07:34 > 0:07:38it was the most terrifying transition you could imagine.
0:07:41 > 0:07:48# Sleep comes like a drug In God's country. #
0:07:48 > 0:07:50We were 27 years of age.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54We'd been playing our instruments for basically seven years,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58and we had this record that was a hit record in the US.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00It was our moment.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04When you get into one of these American football stadiums,
0:08:04 > 0:08:10which is 45,000-50,000 people, it's a very different place of conflict.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18# I want to run I want to hide. #
0:08:18 > 0:08:23So it was very, very tough. Particularly tough on Bono
0:08:23 > 0:08:28to hold an audience for two hours with very little props.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32And we were doing it pre-video reinforcement.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34You know, the tickets are sold. The people are there.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36You've got to go out on stage and play your songs
0:08:36 > 0:08:40and you hope those songs will act as shields for you and that they
0:08:40 > 0:08:42will, you know, conjure up some magic.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50# I want to go there with you, yeah. #
0:08:50 > 0:08:52You get to do that once
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and then you think, "I've got to come back with something else."
0:08:55 > 0:08:58We went back and we said, "Could we do something with video?"
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Nowadays we're sort of used to it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04That was really the best
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and the biggest video that you could put together at that time.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11The tour that we're doing at the moment, which is
0:09:11 > 0:09:17The Joshua Tree 2017, we have this enormous high-resolution
0:09:17 > 0:09:21screen that Anton Corbijn has put his films up against.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24So do disappear, to a degree,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27but you hope the music is big enough to fill the stadium.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31# But I still haven't found What I'm looking for. #
0:09:31 > 0:09:35That's the great thing about playing live - when you get that chemistry.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37When you get that connection with the audience.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43As a player, as a musician, you get freed from your self-consciousness.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48You get freed from trying to think, You know, "What's the next note?"
0:09:48 > 0:09:51"Where do I move next?" It just seems to flow.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55And for those two hours it's almost like spacewalking.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02U2's recent record-breaking 360 Degree tour grossed
0:10:02 > 0:10:07over £500 million in 110 dates.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Which means that each and every night U2 play live
0:10:10 > 0:10:14generates at least £5 million income.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19In the 40 years I've been involved,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22live music has changed beyond recognition.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Back in the '60s, the biggest acts of the day were often bundled
0:10:28 > 0:10:31together to tour theatres and revue shows.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35The idea was that each act would attract different fans
0:10:35 > 0:10:36and the theatres would be packed.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Today some of those bills look incredible,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42and there's one that really stands out for me.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46In 1965, when Motown came to the UK.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49It was a wonderful first tour with the Motown Revue.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Liverpool looked like Detroit to me.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54I remember waking up with my boots on and I'd ran
0:10:54 > 0:10:56out of shillings for the heater.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Do you know what I'm saying? Shillings for the heater.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04You had to put money in the heater or you froze to death.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08It was so cold, and my hit at that time was Love Is Like A Heatwave.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12# It's like a heatwave Burning. #
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Everybody knew the songs - they were singing, they were dancing with us.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19The enthusiasm was twice what we received in America.
0:11:19 > 0:11:27# Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear just as long as you are there
0:11:27 > 0:11:34# So come on, ev'ry guy, grab a girl, ev'rywhere around the world
0:11:34 > 0:11:37# They'll be dancing They're dancing in the street. #
0:11:37 > 0:11:40The Motown revue had covered thousands of miles across the US,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43playing dozens of gigs.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45All right.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47One, two, me and you.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50But even with such popular acts as Martha Reeves
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and Smokey Robinson, they couldn't always make it pay.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59We had four shows a day, sometimes five.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02It all depends on how long the line was first thing in the morning.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07The place is full. I said, "Smokey, man, we ain't making no money."
0:12:07 > 0:12:10He said, "Come here." He took me to the side of the curtain,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13he opened the curtain and said, "See them four rows right there?"
0:12:13 > 0:12:16"Those girls been sitting there all day." I said, "Every show?"
0:12:16 > 0:12:18He said, "They haven't moved."
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Now I know why we ain't making no money.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Nobody's leaving the theatre.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27They brought bags, brown bags with sandwiches and shit.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I said, "Lights. They turned all the lights up.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36I said, "Everybody has got to get out of here."
0:12:36 > 0:12:37Do you know what I mean?
0:12:40 > 0:12:44By the late '60s, with travelling revue shows on their way out,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48the live music industry as we know it today began to take shape.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53A live scene based around a handful of legendary venues
0:12:53 > 0:12:56pulled in thousands of young music fans.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02The Marquee Club in Wardour Street.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05I used to put the chairs out and sweep the floors.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09And I saw some fantastic bands there.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13The first live gig I ever saw was the Yardbirds, with Jeff Beck.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15The day he joined. Jimmy Page on bass,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18and then Zeppelin, first gig at The Marquee.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23I saw Hendrix at The Marquee but I had to go home before he played,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25which is a pain in the arse.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Back then I had a curfew, you see.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34With the live scene exploding,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38anyone could have a go at putting on a gig.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Even enthusiastic amateurs.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42There's Dylan on stage.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45We got into it by accident, really.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48It wasn't through interest in live music, particularly.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52It was just my brother was invited to be a fundraiser,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54trying to raise money for a swimming pool.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56We didn't have one on the Isle of Wight,
0:13:56 > 0:13:57or didn't have an indoor pool.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00We got into looking at music events as
0:14:00 > 0:14:03a fundraising activity, and the festival idea came up.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07The object then was,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11"Who can we put on that really will draw people across the water?"
0:14:11 > 0:14:12And Bob Dylan's name came up.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17# So if you're travelin' in the north country fair... #
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Dylan hadn't played live for three years
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and had stepped out of the public eye after a motorbike crash.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26So this was the longest of long shots.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33We tried for... we offered passage on the QE2 to come from America.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36A holiday in a manor house, a chauffeur,
0:14:36 > 0:14:37a nanny to look after his children.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39You know, everything was thought through
0:14:39 > 0:14:41and we were just really ambitious
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and believing that you could do anything if you tried hard enough.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Somehow, these blokes with no background in music persuaded
0:14:49 > 0:14:53the biggest artist in the world to sign on the dotted line.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58You've got to take your hat off to them.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01The moment Dylan signed the contract,
0:15:01 > 0:15:06and we could go public with it and start selling tickets, we got a huge
0:15:06 > 0:15:09cash flow, which meant we were in a position to really do it properly.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14There was also the cash flow to pay his huge fee.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20How many bookings have you had in total?
0:15:20 > 0:15:23About just over 50,000 at the moment.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25I should think the total number at the festival,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28if the weather holds and the people keep coming, will be about 150,000.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33It was a masterstroke.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36A world superstar playing what was then
0:15:36 > 0:15:38a sleepy backwater was a huge story.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43With 75,000 or 100,000 teenagers,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46there could possibly be some sort of drugs problem.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Are you concerned about it or do you feel it doesn't concern you at all?
0:15:50 > 0:15:53I hope there isn't any.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55Can you tell us your general views on the situation
0:15:55 > 0:15:59of drug-taking among teenagers and young people these days?
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I don't have any of those views.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05His fee, it amounted to £37,000.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09That was be about three quarters of a million in today's money.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Money and fees are usually pretty confidential,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17and there's a good reason for that.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Jealousy does all sorts of strange things to acts.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And as soon as Dylan's fee was known, other artists booked to
0:16:23 > 0:16:26play for much less began demanding much more.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Kit Lambert, who was the manager, got very angry
0:16:32 > 0:16:33and we would be blackmailed.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36He was saying things like, "Well, The Who are as big as Bob Dylan."
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Which we thought was miserable.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39But then in the end he gave a deadline and said,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42"If this isn't sorted out by nine o'clock in the morning, that's it.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45"All bets are off." There was a shakedown, obviously.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48And we called his bluff, and he was calling our bluff.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52They're paying us 450. They are making a fortune here.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54And those days, and still now with festivals,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56you don't get backend.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58You don't get a piece of the backend like you do
0:16:58 > 0:16:59when you play an arena.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04You know, 90% of the profit after the expenses have been paid.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06So we felt we were getting shafted.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12At the last minute, Peter Rudge and the Foulks
0:17:12 > 0:17:14struck a deal to get The Who on stage.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Double the original fee. But still a fraction of what Dylan got.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32And the whole thing was such a success in 1969 they decided
0:17:32 > 0:17:34to do it all again in 1970.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Maybe they should have quit while they were ahead.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43And still they come by the boatload.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46They mingle with the bona fide holiday makers.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50The locals complain about the noise, the drugs, the litter.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52The permissiveness of it all.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54And then turned back to their cash registers which play
0:17:54 > 0:17:57the sort of tune the local tradesmen prefer to hear.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Everyone has their first festival,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 was mine.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09I remember everybody at school wanted to go.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Nobody had a mobile phone, nobody had e-mails.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16How the hell we managed to meet up amongst 600,000 people is beyond me.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24They quadrupled the number of people on the island for that four days.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27We all went skinny-dipping, I remember that.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34And we camped up and it was the first time
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I'd ever seen dope, actually.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39They put their dope in silver paper and tomato sauce
0:18:39 > 0:18:41so that the police dogs couldn't smell it.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46The main body of police is based on a barn on the other
0:18:46 > 0:18:49side of the main road outside the site.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Their job is to patrol the roads and villages, just keeping an eye on the
0:18:52 > 0:18:56fans who have been arriving all day at the rate of over 1,000 an hour.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59You know, you could get promoted from constable to inspector
0:18:59 > 0:19:02if you busted 50 kids at the Isle of Wight, right?
0:19:02 > 0:19:05I mean, you just have to walk into any tent. You're like, "Come on."
0:19:10 > 0:19:14It wasn't about music. It was about culture, alternative culture.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15About, you know,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19young kids not playing by the rules that their parents had established.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21That society had established.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And just this tribal gathering on the Isle of Wight to celebrate
0:19:24 > 0:19:28these crazy drug-ridden artists.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30And it was really threatening for people.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33It was four days of the best bands you could ever think of.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Strange as it sounds today, some of the crowd
0:19:43 > 0:19:46didn't think they should pay to see this incredible show.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Even though tickets cost just £3 -
0:19:49 > 0:19:51a pretty good deal even then.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Irate, militant pop fans of storm defences.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59They believe that pop music should be free.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Isle of Wight was a tricky one.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07It wasn't so much that it was chaotically organised,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10it's just that they didn't anticipate 600,000 people showing up
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and they didn't anticipate the degree of anger and violence
0:20:13 > 0:20:17that came with people demanding to be allowed to get in free.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Financially at the moment it's pretty grim.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25The loss on the gates to date is about £50,000.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30The kids sitting out front had no idea what was going on backstage.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35I had to go and see Leonard Cohen, for instance,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38in the middle of the night and said, "Look,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40"we haven't got the balance of your fee."
0:20:40 > 0:20:44I think he was due another £5,000 or something - due a lot of money.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48That would be £100,000 today.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52And I said, "Look, I fully understand that you probably won't
0:20:52 > 0:20:55"want to go on now and there's nothing we can do."
0:20:55 > 0:20:58And he said, "Look, we've come all this way. We're going to do it."
0:20:58 > 0:21:00He said, "Don't worry, I can see it's not your fault.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06"We're going to do it." And he did the most fantastic performance.
0:21:06 > 0:21:13# I loved you in the morning Our kisses deep and warm
0:21:13 > 0:21:21# Our hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
0:21:21 > 0:21:27# Yeah, many loved before us I know we are not new
0:21:27 > 0:21:35# In city and in forest They smiled like me and you. #
0:21:35 > 0:21:39I don't think we or many of the acts got paid at all.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And we knew that when we went on. We knew they had no money.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46We knew the whole thing was a, you know, was a busted flush.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50And, you know, we knew we weren't going to get paid
0:21:50 > 0:21:54and we were one of the headliners so let's just try and to make it OK.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56And we did.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05You say that financially it's a disaster at the moment.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Any plans for another one next year or could this be the last
0:22:08 > 0:22:10- Isle of Wight pop festival? - I think it will be.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Ray and his brothers might well have broken the promoters'
0:22:24 > 0:22:26golden rule of not paying the bands,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29but with 600,000 people turning up to their gig,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31they also demonstrated
0:22:31 > 0:22:35the amazing pulling power of live music to an entire generation.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Great live acts were in massive demand.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And bands took to the road to try and build up their fan base.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51One of them was Jethro Tull, whose live shows help them
0:22:51 > 0:22:55- become one of the world's biggest bands.- We toured with Led Zeppelin.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59The two bands between us I think had four road crew. Between us.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03That was the way to do it. For a while Zeppelin were like us -
0:23:03 > 0:23:06making serious money because the expenses were very low.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10And we were playing in, you know, 15,000-, 20,000-seat arenas.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12So that was very profitable.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15And then they had to have their own jet and the big entourage and
0:23:15 > 0:23:19sort of, I suppose they fell in the same pattern as did The Stones and
0:23:19 > 0:23:24other people who famously would take vast numbers of people on the road.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27And out there on the road, even playing in front of adoring fans
0:23:27 > 0:23:29can be a strange way to make a living.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35I remember standing ready to go out where the stage was set up,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38and I was waiting there for our cue,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42and suddenly I was soaked from something from above.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46And somebody had poured, you know, a pint pot
0:23:46 > 0:23:50of urine over my head from high above.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55And I had to walk out there stinking of another man's pee.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Somewhere in the New York area I got hit.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15I thought I'd been shot because
0:24:15 > 0:24:17I suddenly felt something hit my chest,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and I was wearing an open-neck shirt,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22and I saw blood and I thought,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24"Is it what they say about the adrenaline kicking in -
0:24:24 > 0:24:26"you can't feel the pain?"
0:24:34 > 0:24:37I kind of looked down and I saw what looked like a little
0:24:37 > 0:24:41piece of string, and I pulled it and out came a freshly plucked tampon,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46which have been hurled at me with amazing, unswerving accuracy.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Hit me in the chest and slid down inside my shirt.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52Thank you.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58By the mid-1970s,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01most bands didn't tour just to earn money from ticket sales.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03More and more it was pushed by record labels as
0:25:03 > 0:25:07a way for acts to market and sell their latest albums.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10A band like the Rolling Stones could add up to half a million
0:25:10 > 0:25:12album sales by touring.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17# Honky tonk woman. #
0:25:17 > 0:25:20And a new breed of professional tour manager emerged.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22My old friend Peter Rudge
0:25:22 > 0:25:25practically wrote the job description.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29The pressures are kind of attention, which is based on the bands.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33I don't understand it. I suppose if I understood it there'd be no magic to the group, you know?
0:25:33 > 0:25:37- You've been doing it for long enough, haven't you?- Not as long as them. I'm not that old.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40The Stones were the kingpins in what was a golden age of massive
0:25:40 > 0:25:44bands and vast tours, shifting huge amounts of vinyl.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49When The Rolling Stones go through town in the '70s
0:25:49 > 0:25:51it was anarchic in those days.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53It really was.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55We were making up the rules as we went along.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58I mean, most of the time was spent trying to find somewhere to
0:25:58 > 0:26:01accommodate - most hotels wouldn't take them.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03The Rolling Stones are asleep.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Four trucks and 30 tonnes of equipment are already
0:26:06 > 0:26:09arriving for the next gig, 300 miles away.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12With The Rolling Stones, the tour manager became part drinking buddy,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15part chaperone and part sergeant major.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22I mean, it was security, to enclose them as much as you could against
0:26:22 > 0:26:23outside influences,
0:26:23 > 0:26:28whether it be the press looking for a cheap story,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31whether it was the police looking for a cheap bust,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34whether it was groupies just going to cause trouble.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40All the pressure you're talking about, which reduces others
0:26:40 > 0:26:43to a wreck, it's having a fair effect on you, by the look of it.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Well, you don't look so good yourself
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and you've only been on it five days.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48There was a lot of drunks about.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Yes, there was a lot of drink about. Everyone was the same.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55It was the labels, it was the promoters, you know, we all got in
0:26:55 > 0:26:59it for our reasons and none of them were particularly mature reasons.
0:27:01 > 0:27:02We were playing to a lot of people.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05You can really destroy a budget
0:27:05 > 0:27:09if you allow excess to be spent on production.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13I managed to keep it, you know, the margin there.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16On the Starfucker tour, yeah, we had the plastic penis.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Wasn't that expensive - it was just plastic.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22The fact it was a penis was the thing that got people's attention.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24In some parts of America Peter's penis had to be
0:27:24 > 0:27:26swapped for a finger.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30We used to do a lot of things with the Stones.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Like Mick flying out over the audience on a rope just hung
0:27:33 > 0:27:35over a lighting truss.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36It didn't cost a thing.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Or throwing water over himself, you know,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44some of those gags looked great and memorable when they cost tuppence.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47We have to give all the money to the Revenue, bless them.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49They should really be promoting the tour.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51- Are the Stones doing very well out of it?- No.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53They won't make any money at all out of Britain.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55I can look you in the eye and tell you that.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57You could look me in the eye and tell me anything.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00- Are you doing very well out of it? - Me?- Yeah, what's in it for you?
0:28:00 > 0:28:01It's a living, that's all.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Hang on, I saw you arrive in a Bentley this afternoon,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06- what kind of a living is that? - It was an old one.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The way you can get lost is the amount of lights and lasers now
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and things of that nature, it's obscene.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Ed Sheeran will go on stage at Glastonbury Sunday night with
0:28:18 > 0:28:20just a guitar.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23I'd love to be his manager. That's a healthy margin.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33The '70s was the era when everything was up for grabs.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35The rules of live music were still being written
0:28:35 > 0:28:38and one band in particular was breaking the mould.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43Genesis, you know, we didn't get radio play.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46We totally relied on live shows.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49We all realise we look the same as anybody else,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51all I wanted to do was play the drums
0:28:51 > 0:28:55and Tony, Mike and Steve had, I think
0:28:55 > 0:28:58they would admit to having zero personalities on stage.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03Peter grew to be eccentric on stage.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07But he wasn't a naturally eccentric person.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11I am the voice of Britain before the Daily Express.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16We kind of wanted to illustrate the music better than, "You all right?
0:29:16 > 0:29:19"You all right? Good evening, Watford," you know.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22I mean, we wanted to do it in a different way.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27Stage presentation became something that we took quite seriously.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Genesis' ambition for a great visual show culminated
0:29:31 > 0:29:35when they toured concept album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38The Lamb is a very ambitious album.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42I'd already committed to a tour in America.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Because it was a concept album they wanted to play the whole album,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50double album, as it should be heard.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54And so what happened was the record came out the week
0:29:54 > 0:29:56we started touring.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58We finished the album on a Friday
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and on the Monday we were in Chicago, you know.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Nobody knew it, nobody's heard it.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05Very difficult with new material
0:30:05 > 0:30:09because people do not like new songs.
0:30:09 > 0:30:14They like the songs that they've paid the ticket price to come
0:30:14 > 0:30:15and hear.
0:30:15 > 0:30:21So we ended up going on the road, playing a whole double album
0:30:21 > 0:30:25worth of new material that the audience didn't know.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28There were three projection screens with six projectors.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33They would never synchronise with each other and slides would fall
0:30:33 > 0:30:38out and it would stop and carousels get stuck and God knows what.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41# You gotta get in to get out.. #
0:30:41 > 0:30:48Peter coming out of this blown-up penis as a sperm was quite
0:30:48 > 0:30:51an interesting concept!
0:30:51 > 0:30:56And he had this stupid costume which he could never get a mic
0:30:56 > 0:30:58anywhere near.
0:30:58 > 0:31:03Half the time the vocals were missing cos you couldn't hear him.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07The tour was about 105 shows all over Europe and America.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10It was like you went away to war, you know,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12you went away and you hoped you were going to come back.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15And when you did come back, your kids were driving
0:31:15 > 0:31:18and married with three children!
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Eventually the relentless touring paid off.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24Genesis, minus Peter Gabriel, became one of rock music's biggest
0:31:24 > 0:31:27live bands, and record sales followed -
0:31:27 > 0:31:30although it would be 15 years before The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
0:31:30 > 0:31:33would earn them a gold disc.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35It's now looked upon, retrospectively, as our masterpiece.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39But believe me, people didn't think that at the time.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42"Get off! Play something we know!"
0:31:42 > 0:31:46# As you glide in your stride
0:31:46 > 0:31:49# With the wind as you fly away
0:31:49 > 0:31:52# Give a smile from your lips and say... #
0:31:52 > 0:31:56The first band that managed to combine theatrical shows with
0:31:56 > 0:32:01massive pop success were one of America's biggest-selling funk
0:32:01 > 0:32:06and soul bands of the 1970s - Earth, Wind & Fire.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09But their unstoppable rise started with a hard
0:32:09 > 0:32:12lesson at the hands of the wildest funk band of them all.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! #
0:32:16 > 0:32:18We were opening for the Funkadelics
0:32:18 > 0:32:22and that was a night we'll never forget.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24For a couple of reasons.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27First off, the Funkadelics killed us.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30We went on, you know, we were the flower children from LA and we went
0:32:30 > 0:32:32on and did our thing and everyone was,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34"Yeah, yeah, that was very nice."
0:32:34 > 0:32:37And then all of a sudden, man, the Funkadelics struck up this groove.
0:32:37 > 0:32:38It was like...
0:32:38 > 0:32:46HE MIMICS UPBEAT MUSIC BEAT
0:32:46 > 0:32:48..followed by a cloud of smoke.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51And they proceeded to just fry us.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54- HE MIMICS UPBEAT MUSIC BEAT - You know?
0:32:54 > 0:32:59To this day all of us remember that groove.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01Of course, after that we all went back to LA and Maurice said,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03"That'll never happen again."
0:33:03 > 0:33:04# Dance... #
0:33:04 > 0:33:06That was our first spanking.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09But we only got spanked once.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10# Dance... #
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Then we rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Gradually the band became masters at getting the crowd's attention.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Our intro, we started in a lotus position, you know,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27like a meditation position. That was our intro.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29And they were throwing stuff at us.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33I mean throwing everything, calling us names.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37For about...five to ten minutes we just sat there and we just...
0:33:39 > 0:33:41They were like, "What the...?"
0:33:41 > 0:33:44And we finally got up and started playing.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46It was incredible.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49I brought in the magic and the special effects.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53I would do bass solo and I would levitate.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57It was hard to do. It's all timing, timing.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03He'd be playing and he'd be totally horizontal.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04Can't tell you how we did it.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10I rehearsed that part of the show for two months straight -
0:34:10 > 0:34:13just that part. Just that part.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16One of the best finales ever was us walking up these steps
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and getting inside this metal pyramid.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22The pyramid would rise up.
0:34:25 > 0:34:26And it would collapse.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30And there would be nobody inside.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35While that was going on, these androids were walking out on stage.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39And when the pyramid collapsed it would take their helmets off.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42And it was us.
0:34:45 > 0:34:46Can't tell ya.
0:34:48 > 0:34:49We were doing something very special
0:34:49 > 0:34:52and because no other act was incorporating that kind of
0:34:52 > 0:34:56technology at that time we knew we had something different, for sure.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00Michael Jackson and his brothers would come to our show.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Michael was sitting there taking notes.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13OK, can someone tell me where the media bit is in the hotel?
0:35:13 > 0:35:17By the time I started booking bands in the mid-1970s the live
0:35:17 > 0:35:20music scene was exploding with raw energy.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23# I am an...
0:35:23 > 0:35:26# I am an anarchist... #
0:35:26 > 0:35:31Punk shunned expensive lights and stage costumes in favour of
0:35:31 > 0:35:36attitude, and it reclaimed live music as a slightly dangerous experience.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39# Enemy
0:35:39 > 0:35:42# Enemy... #
0:35:42 > 0:35:45I rented a flat in West Kensington.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47I went over the road and there was this group on stage and the
0:35:47 > 0:35:51lead singer had a Pink Floyd T-shirt and he'd written "I hate" across it.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53I thought, how can you hate Pink Floyd?
0:35:53 > 0:35:55And the audience were jumping up and down,
0:35:55 > 0:35:57which I later learned was called pogoing,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00and he was stubbing live cigarettes out on his arm.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04It was the Sex Pistols. I mean, it was amazing. Absolutely amazing.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08The thing about seeing a punk band live was that they weren't
0:36:08 > 0:36:11really supposed to be able to play well.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Those bands that could made the music press suspicious.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18# When you live so many miles away... #
0:36:18 > 0:36:21None more so that this band - The Police.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24A bunch of proper musicians trying to ride the punk wave
0:36:24 > 0:36:27but never quite fitting in.
0:36:27 > 0:36:28It was very easy for us to get gigs
0:36:28 > 0:36:31and not only was it easy for us to get gigs,
0:36:31 > 0:36:32we got everyone else's gigs, too.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37The Jam, they were managed by Paul Weller's dad.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41He didn't know how to hire a truck or a PA system. I did.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43I was a professional tour manager.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46I tour managed Curved Air, Renaissance, Joan Armatrading.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48I knew how to book a truck.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51And so Rebecca's in Birmingham would say,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53"There's no band, can you get up here?"
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Yup, I can get up there.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58And The Police ended up playing a lot of slots where the punk
0:36:58 > 0:37:03band, the headliner, couldn't get organised to make it to the show.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05And by the way, their attitude was,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08"Ha-ha-ha-ha, that's how revolutionary we are.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12"We don't even show up to our own gigs!" We showed up.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15And we were not that popular cos people wanted to see The Slits
0:37:15 > 0:37:17and it would be us instead.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20# Giant steps are what you take
0:37:20 > 0:37:24# Walking on the moon... #
0:37:24 > 0:37:28In England the British journalists had exposed us as a fraud,
0:37:28 > 0:37:33which was true, and as carpetbaggers - also true.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37And so we figured we could go over to America where
0:37:37 > 0:37:39they didn't realise we were wrong 'uns.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43# We could walk forever... #
0:37:43 > 0:37:46And so we would go over there with short hair, peroxided,
0:37:46 > 0:37:50hostile attitude, collars turned up, the whole thing, and we would
0:37:50 > 0:37:53jam all night and the Americans didn't know that we were fakes.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58# Walking back from your house... #
0:37:58 > 0:38:02One of our famous dates was in Poughkeepsie.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06It was Super Bowl night and it was a huge blizzard.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09And so there was nobody in the club but three people.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Well, one of them was the boss DJ from this station, one of them was
0:38:13 > 0:38:16the boss DJ from that station, so we played our show
0:38:16 > 0:38:18and those three guys went back to
0:38:18 > 0:38:21their stations and started playing our record hard, heavy rotations.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24# Some may say
0:38:24 > 0:38:28# I'm wishing my days away
0:38:28 > 0:38:30# No way... #
0:38:30 > 0:38:36And it started to make noise and so out of Los Angeles they send their
0:38:36 > 0:38:39artists relations guy who showed up in some miserable city
0:38:39 > 0:38:41somewhere and he saw the band
0:38:41 > 0:38:46and called up the next morning to Jerry Moss - the M of A&M Records -
0:38:46 > 0:38:49and says, "This is important."
0:38:49 > 0:38:53And from that day forward everything changed.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57The Police did break America, then UK, Europe,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59and pretty much everywhere else.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07The band became pioneers in the fledgling business of global touring.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08And we had an idea.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11It was really our manager, my brother Miles, who said,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15"Let's take this out, let's go somewhere new."
0:39:15 > 0:39:16Victory Stall,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19where they've done all the bookings for the tickets and everything.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21We're now about the lady and she'll tell us about it.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24These very nice Indian ladies,
0:39:24 > 0:39:26the Time & Talents Club, and they were bringing
0:39:26 > 0:39:30culture, usually a string quartet or a little opera piece.
0:39:30 > 0:39:36The Time & Talents Club has been in existence for the last 46 years.
0:39:36 > 0:39:43We are a band of ladies, all working.
0:39:43 > 0:39:44Hello.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49This is called I Can't Stand Losing You.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Of course, the equipment hassles, the electricity...
0:39:55 > 0:39:57"Where's the plug?"
0:39:57 > 0:40:00# I called you so many times today
0:40:00 > 0:40:03# I guess it's all true what your girlfriends say... #
0:40:03 > 0:40:05On the soundcheck they thought the concert was starting
0:40:05 > 0:40:07and they just came over the walls.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10They trashed all the fancy seats in the front where all
0:40:10 > 0:40:11the people who paid for the show...
0:40:11 > 0:40:15# But I'm not prepared to go on like this
0:40:15 > 0:40:18# I can't, I can't, I can't stand losing... #
0:40:18 > 0:40:21We were playing to the people on the street
0:40:21 > 0:40:25and they responded exactly the way an audience in Leeds would respond.
0:40:25 > 0:40:26Which was pretty cool, actually.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29That was one of the most emotional shows we ever played.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31Thank you! Goodnight!
0:40:31 > 0:40:34At the height of their success The Police were playing
0:40:34 > 0:40:35over 100 shows every year.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40Their relentless touring around the world paid off and they sold
0:40:40 > 0:40:45tens of millions of albums globally before they split up in 1986.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53To me, they set the benchmark for all up-and-coming bands to follow.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56You know, we're on the verge of over-exposing ourselves.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59The fourth British tour we've done this year.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Yup, that's me with one of them, Big Country,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04trying to explain to them how touring works.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08- So who works out the ticket price? - I work out the ticket price.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13- And how's that done?- I decide it on the basis of your level of success
0:41:13 > 0:41:16and what other groups are charging across the board.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19So that comes from just comparing other people's situations?
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Yeah, I mean, go above. £4.50, £3.50 in the provinces,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26this level of success, I think, is pushing it.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29# Oh, Lord
0:41:29 > 0:41:33# Where did the feeling go... #
0:41:33 > 0:41:36You can't do seven nights on the trot or else you lose your voice
0:41:36 > 0:41:38and we have to cancel three gigs in-between.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42You have to know the demands each group has.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Like, The Stranglers can work 25 gigs in a row.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49But you guys have to have, like, three on, day on, day off,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51- four on, day off... - Since when?
0:41:52 > 0:41:54That's the theory.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57You keep doing all this other stuff, you're meant to have days off.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00# Oh, Lord
0:42:00 > 0:42:03# Where did the feeling go... #
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Of course, I'm a nice guy and I listen to my artists,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12but sometimes record companies trying to get bands to
0:42:12 > 0:42:15promote their records aren't always so understanding.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Here's something that you probably don't know or haven't thought
0:42:20 > 0:42:24much about but it's in the mind of a musician -
0:42:24 > 0:42:26they think about it constantly -
0:42:26 > 0:42:29and that is the number of shows in a row,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32how many shows you'll do per week.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35If they had their way,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39you would never get a lunch break in your whole life, you would
0:42:39 > 0:42:44play every night of the week and maybe even do matinees, right?
0:42:44 > 0:42:48But this will fuck you up if you do that for too long.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51# I've been caught stealing
0:42:51 > 0:42:53# Once, when I was five
0:42:53 > 0:42:55# I enjoy stealing
0:42:55 > 0:42:57# It's just as simple as that... #
0:42:57 > 0:42:59You guys travel, right?
0:42:59 > 0:43:02You do one day in the airport, how do you feel the next day?
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Like you need a fucking vacation from the vacation.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08But you know you're doing that, so check this out,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13you're either on a plane every day or on a bus every day.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15The plane takes more out of you.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18You'd think, well, but you get there quicker
0:43:18 > 0:43:23but, no, meeting those people in the airport that are, you know, making
0:43:23 > 0:43:29you take shit out of your bag or taking shit out of your bag for you.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31# I walk right
0:43:31 > 0:43:33# Through the door... #
0:43:33 > 0:43:35And you have to push 'em back and say,
0:43:35 > 0:43:40"I'm going to do two shows in a row then my voice needs a rest."
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Like a basketball player.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44You don't ask Kobe Bryant to fucking play five nights in a row,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47or LeBron James.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49Why you asking me to fucking scream?
0:43:49 > 0:43:53# And she did it just like that
0:43:53 > 0:43:56# When she wants something... #
0:43:56 > 0:43:59Forced to spend weeks and months together,
0:43:59 > 0:44:04artists need to get along, but it doesn't always work out that way.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Perry Farrell ended up in an on-stage fight
0:44:06 > 0:44:10with Jane's Addiction's guitarist and the band split up.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Other very public meltdowns have passed into legend,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16like this one from Green Day's singer
0:44:16 > 0:44:18for being told to finish his set.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Gimme a fucking break. One minute left.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29One minute fucking left. You're going to give me fucking one minute?
0:44:29 > 0:44:33And you're going to give me one fucking minute?
0:44:33 > 0:44:36You gotta be fucking kidding me!
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Let me show you what one fucking minute fucking means.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51As a promoter I don't mind this sort of thing.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56It's all part of the great unpredictable world of live music.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00By the early '90s, to have any real hope of making it,
0:45:00 > 0:45:04aspiring bands had to master a bit of rock 'n' roll mayhem.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08Blur's early gigs were completely chaotic.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12Frenetic, raucous, drunken,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15chaotic rampages, really.
0:45:16 > 0:45:21Ha! Our first gig, we got beaten up by the other support band.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23Graham had to go to hospital.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28# She's a 20th century girl... #
0:45:28 > 0:45:31It was quite an aggressive environment.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33There was one point, I had two black eyes.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35One from Graham and one from Dave.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37You know, we did used to fight quite bitterly
0:45:37 > 0:45:41but there was never really any question of us splitting up.
0:45:41 > 0:45:46I think we were all convinced that we were meant to be together.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54If Blur didn't gel immediately as a viable live act,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57with so many venues, they could work their way up.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01A band's ascent to world domination
0:46:01 > 0:46:05happens without you really noticing it.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09You start off playing to your mates at college,
0:46:09 > 0:46:11you know, playing to 20 or 30 people.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14Then you're playing to 100 people at the Camden Falcon.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16It happens by degrees.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Like any up-and-coming band, Blur reached the point
0:46:19 > 0:46:22where they needed the record label to foot the bill for their gigs.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25It's expensive to take a band on the road. You know,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28it's not just the band and hotels and transport.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31You've got, like, all your roadies and your lighting crew, PAs,
0:46:31 > 0:46:37and you don't make money out of playing little clubs to 200 people.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Your break even point's probably, sort of, Brixton Academy,
0:46:40 > 0:46:43playing to about 3,000 or 4,000 people.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45But to fill venues like that,
0:46:45 > 0:46:47you need songs that people know and love.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49You need hits.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52We decided to start with a song that we'd just written.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54Rowntree started banging the bass drum.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57They started punching the air at that point.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01And then the keyboard riff slammed in and they all started chanting.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03And I ripped in with the bass.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11And by the time I got to the chorus,
0:47:11 > 0:47:13like, a bra had hit me in the face.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17And I looked over at Damon
0:47:17 > 0:47:20as a pair of knickers clocked him in the eye.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25And, I think, sort of, at that point, everything changed.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29# Street's like a jungle
0:47:29 > 0:47:31# So call the police
0:47:34 > 0:47:36# Following the herd
0:47:37 > 0:47:38# Down to Greece
0:47:40 > 0:47:42# On holiday
0:47:42 > 0:47:44# Love in the '90s
0:47:45 > 0:47:47# Is paranoid
0:47:50 > 0:47:51# On sunny beaches
0:47:53 > 0:47:56# Take your chances
0:47:56 > 0:47:58# Looking for
0:47:58 > 0:48:00# Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls... #
0:48:00 > 0:48:03Suddenly, you're headlining Glastonbury,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06playing to 100,000 people or more
0:48:06 > 0:48:08and, I think, at one point,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10we played to a million people
0:48:10 > 0:48:13in the big square in Rome.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17That was a great day.
0:48:17 > 0:48:18Bass guitar.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22By the time Blur were playing in front of a million people,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25not only had the band hit the jackpot,
0:48:25 > 0:48:27but the label would have earned back every penny
0:48:27 > 0:48:29it ever invested in them,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32but if that was rock music in the 1990s,
0:48:32 > 0:48:34pop was a different story.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38One act managed to become the biggest pop band in the world
0:48:38 > 0:48:41without ever having properly played live at all.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45# Yo, I'll tell you what I want What I really, really want
0:48:45 > 0:48:47# So tell me what you want What you really, really want
0:48:47 > 0:48:50# I'll you what I want What I really, really want...
0:48:50 > 0:48:52# So, tell me what you want What you really, really want
0:48:52 > 0:48:53# I wanna, I wanna, I wanna
0:48:53 > 0:48:57# I wanna, I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah!
0:48:57 > 0:49:00# If you want my future Forget my past... #
0:49:00 > 0:49:03When the Spice Girls arrived onto the scene,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06there was a really healthy rock scene, or Britpop scene,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08and the grunge scene had been over in the US.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11So, there was, kind of, this, you know,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14you had the pop tarts versus the guys
0:49:14 > 0:49:18who'd been in their bedrooms, you know, the person in their garage.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22# Make it last for ever Friendship never ends... #
0:49:22 > 0:49:24I was lucky enough to be a Spice Girl
0:49:24 > 0:49:27and I was actually quite surprised
0:49:27 > 0:49:29how little time you spend performing.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33There's so many interviews to do, TV shows,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36and then a lot of your performances, you're miming,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39and it's really frustrating as an artist.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43# If you wanna be my lover You gotta get with my friends... #
0:49:43 > 0:49:46A lot of people in the music industry have worked their way up,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50we were, kind of, going in - we really were very successful at this point,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53but we'd never done a full live show.
0:49:53 > 0:49:54Hey!
0:49:54 > 0:49:56But you've got to give it to them,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59they wanted to prove themselves as a live act
0:49:59 > 0:50:01and after two smash albums
0:50:01 > 0:50:04and craziness that drew comparisons to Beatlemania,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07their first full show was scheduled for Istanbul.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10The microphone is jumping all over the place and I was trying to,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12sort of, dance in time and...
0:50:12 > 0:50:14So much pressure on us.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19The production was absolutely huge and it was petrifying.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24That was probably one of the most terrifying nights of my life.
0:50:24 > 0:50:25Everybody was waiting for it
0:50:25 > 0:50:27and everybody was waiting for us to fail.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33I think people expected us to not be able to sing live.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37I think people expected, probably, not a lot of the show to be live.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46# If you can't dance If you can't dance
0:50:46 > 0:50:48# If you can't dance If you can't dance
0:50:48 > 0:50:52# If he can't dance it means you can't do nothing for me, baby
0:50:53 > 0:50:55# If you can't dance If you can't dance
0:50:55 > 0:50:58# If you can't dance If you can't dance
0:50:58 > 0:51:01# If you can't dance it means you can't do nothing for me, baby... #
0:51:04 > 0:51:08It's almost an out-of-body experience, and you do it,
0:51:08 > 0:51:10but you can't even remember what happens.
0:51:12 > 0:51:13# If you wanna be my lover! #
0:51:13 > 0:51:14Girl power!
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Nothing can prepare you for that amount of adrenaline.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25The Spice Girls, the biggest pop group on the planet,
0:51:25 > 0:51:27did a world tour and sold over two million tickets
0:51:27 > 0:51:29on the back of their albums,
0:51:29 > 0:51:31but they were the exception.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35In the '90s, we were still living by the old rules.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43Record sales were still huge, making up nearly 80% of a band's income.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47It wouldn't last.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52No-one knew it at the time but revolution was coming.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58Thanks to the internet and file sharing sites like Napster.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06When I first heard about Napster, I was in this office,
0:52:06 > 0:52:07we had to find the one person
0:52:07 > 0:52:09with a PC computer in our office
0:52:09 > 0:52:12and she typed some stuff in, right,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15and we saw...
0:52:15 > 0:52:17I don't know, 50 versions of Enter Sandman.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23Was there a sinking feeling that the game was up? Yes.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27I'd have to say that we realised that the handwriting,
0:52:27 > 0:52:29someone was writing on the wall.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31Maybe they hadn't written it clearly yet,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34but they were putting their hand on the wall and writing.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37So, yes, I'd say we knew that we were in deep shit.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42# Say your prayers, little one Don't forget, my son
0:52:42 > 0:52:45# To include everyone
0:52:46 > 0:52:49# Tuck you in, warm within Keep you free from sin
0:52:49 > 0:52:52# Till the sandman he comes... #
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Downloading and illegal file sharing didn't quite kill
0:52:55 > 0:52:59recorded music, but it did put it into intensive care.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03Record sales nearly halved in the course of just five years.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05The whole business model was turned on its head
0:53:05 > 0:53:07and bands were forced out on the road
0:53:07 > 0:53:10to make a living from the concerts themselves.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12And that's when live music exploded.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14Again.
0:53:14 > 0:53:15We haven't made a record in years.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19You know, and that is just what we do. We play in front of our fans.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22You know, rock bands have always had to bring it to the fans.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24# Exit light, what is it?
0:53:26 > 0:53:27- CROWD:- # Enter night!
0:53:29 > 0:53:31# Take my hand
0:53:32 > 0:53:34# Off to never-never land... #
0:53:34 > 0:53:36And, guess what, the fans couldn't get enough of it.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Demand went through the roof and ticket prices soon followed.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44We did some tests, you know, in the last couple of years,
0:53:44 > 0:53:45we realised the top price
0:53:45 > 0:53:48for a Metallica ticket could be much higher than it used to be.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52And we charged it and there was no audience pushback,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56you know, on it, so shows that might have made X now make 3X.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59It's really, the ticket price thing has changed everything.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Today, a Metallica ticket can cost you up to £100.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Thank you very much, France!
0:54:06 > 0:54:09And with Platinum passes, meet and greet and VIP entry,
0:54:09 > 0:54:10it can be much more.
0:54:12 > 0:54:13You make us feel good!
0:54:15 > 0:54:16Thank you!
0:54:21 > 0:54:25Live music is now worth nearly a billion to the UK each year.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29A large slice of that is down to this.
0:54:29 > 0:54:30The music festival.
0:54:48 > 0:54:53The Isle of Wight Festival that first inspired me went bust in 1970.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56It was resurrected a few years ago.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Now, I'm the guy who has to make sure the artists get paid,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03the big screens are working, amongst plenty of other things.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06It's going to cost me a fortune in damage, all this grass.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I have to reinstate it to how I found it.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13If it gets too hot, it turns into a dust bowl
0:55:13 > 0:55:16and you have to pay for that damage, as well.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19Quite good fun.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23I can still remember the thrill of coming here
0:55:23 > 0:55:25for my first festival as a 17-year-old.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28And I still get a huge buzz from bringing 60,000 people together
0:55:28 > 0:55:31to share the experience of live music.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35My crowd is just the tip of the iceberg.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Last year, there were over 14 million tickets sold
0:55:39 > 0:55:41for music festivals in Britain.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43I'm just hoping it don't rain.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46Because, even though I've got boots on,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49I like my boots to be sparkling clean.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Otherwise, it's going to be a rocking good time!
0:55:53 > 0:55:55# It's tricky to rock a rhyme
0:55:55 > 0:55:58# To rock a rhyme that's right on time, it's tricky
0:55:58 > 0:56:01# It's tricky, tricky, tricky... #
0:56:01 > 0:56:04For acts at the top of the bill, like Run DMC
0:56:04 > 0:56:05and this guy, Rod Stewart...
0:56:07 > 0:56:09..there's great money to be made.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13For less established acts, there's the chance to meet new fans
0:56:13 > 0:56:15and establish reputations.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18- CROWD:- # ..How you broke my heart... #
0:56:18 > 0:56:20Come on, then!
0:56:20 > 0:56:22It's a blast and great value for money, but then,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24I would say that, wouldn't I?
0:56:26 > 0:56:28There's one piece of advice I'd give to all the bands...
0:56:30 > 0:56:31..just play the hits.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35It's a great thing to do a festival, but for me,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38it's got that romance of everything that rock and roll is about.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41I just remember the first time us standing on a giant stage
0:56:41 > 0:56:45with, you know, thousands of people and you suddenly go back in time
0:56:45 > 0:56:49and you feel like you're at Woodstock or something.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51Being in the open air and standing on stage
0:56:51 > 0:56:54and people just ready, having an amazing time.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58So we just go... "Hit them with the hits!"
0:57:00 > 0:57:02# I don't want a lover
0:57:03 > 0:57:05# I just need a friend... #
0:57:07 > 0:57:09Four million people in the UK
0:57:09 > 0:57:12will go to over 1,000 music festivals this year.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18And that's just part of a huge multi-million pound music scene.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25In the end, regardless of how the business of live music has changed,
0:57:25 > 0:57:30when it comes down to it, it's always been about one thing -
0:57:30 > 0:57:32the joy of the shared experience.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45And just for a little while, nothing else matters
0:57:45 > 0:57:47and you're lost in the moment.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59And that's why I still love this job.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04I've been a lousy husband. I haven't really seen my kids grow up,
0:58:04 > 0:58:08but it's part of what you are - performing.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12We are the reason why people gather,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16but once they have gathered, it's their event.
0:58:16 > 0:58:17You know, something else happens.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24Being on the road most of my life, it's a heavenly place to be.
0:58:24 > 0:58:25I'm a terrible housekeeper
0:58:25 > 0:58:29and my cooking, you know, nobody's asking me to cook dinner for them.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31But when I'm on stage, that's the only time that
0:58:31 > 0:58:33I feel that I'm really me.
0:58:33 > 0:58:35I love her. She is fabulous.